V of M reel to reel
 

So I picked this up at a thrift store today. V of M tape-o-matic 736. I don't have a tape to test it with. The motor turns, the belts seem to be ok, but a lot of the mechanism is gummed up like it needs to be lubricated. What's weird is that the motor turns when I press stop and stops when I press play! I see the switch that turns the motor on and off (it's on the top right) and I don't really see how this could work any differently. Before I take this apart any further, anyone worked worked on one of these before and know what's going on?

There is a little doohickey in the tape path which detects when the tape has run out and switches the motor off. That's likely why it's switching off when you hit play. The motor runs whenever the unit is powered on, as I recall, but the "transmission" will be in neutral.

Brian is right. The behavior you describe is normal for that era of single motor belt driven RTR deck. That 'dohickey' is usually a lightweight lever that presses against the tape to make sure there is tape.

I've got three of it's older siblings in my collection.

What diameter reel does/can it take (it looks like 5")? I've got all reel sizes I know of in 1/4" tape....If you give me a size I can bring a full reel of tape for you to the next WARCI meet to have gratis.

So it sounds like it is basically working like it should. I just need to try a tape, clean and lubricate some stuff, and maybe I'll recap it. While I've been into 8-tracks and records for years, this is actually the first reel to reel I've ever had.

Thanks, it's a 5". If you're still interested in trading me that Zenith Beta VCR for my Sony U-Matic, we could do that there too. For some reason I was thinking the next swap meet was next week, but I just looked and it's on the 21st.

I'm planning to be there! Maybe Tom can point you out.
The meet should be at the KC hall in West Allis. :thmbsp:

I went to the last 3, twice near the Milwaukee airport, and once here in Madison, you've probably seen me already.